Blind Ride by BA Tortuga

Jason Scott has everything a bull rider wants—success, money and traveling partner Andy Baxter. When he loses his sight in an accident, he stands to lose it all.

Jason Scott is at the top of the bull riding game, on his way to a winning season. Along with his traveling partner, Andy Baxter, he’s riding hard on the circuit, working around the country with all of the other bull riders and bullfighters, living the good life. The only thing he wishes he had is Bax, but he’s afraid to take the step that would make them more than friends, worried that it will ruin everything.

When a terrible accident leaves Jason unable to see, his whole life goes south. Jason decides to chuck it all, determined to go home and hide at his momma’s ranch. Bax has other ideas. He wants to make sure his best friend doesn’t give up, and he hatches a plan that stuns Jason and makes their friends and family think he’s crazy.

With the help of the other bull riders and a very persistent bull fighter named Coke, Bax convinces Jason to give life one more try. With Jason cautiously learning to hope, and his relationship with Bax going to the next level, life gets pretty complicated. Everyone gets in on the project, from Jason’s strong-willed mother to an entire ranch full of children, all of them working to help Jason do what he loves.

Publisher's Note: This book was previously released elsewhere. It has been re-edited for re-release with Pride Publishing.

Book 1
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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Angela – ☆☆☆☆
Even knowing that Blind Ride was the first book in a revised and re-edited, previously released series, I wasn’t prepared for it to end when it did. I’ve read a couple of Ms. Tortuga’s recent releases and found the writing and storyline in Blind Ride to be just as engrossing and entertaining as her newer works. As this is my first time reading this book, I cannot remark upon the level of revision and how much – if at all – it differs from the original. What I can say is that if you enjoy rodeos, hot cowboy lovin’, and the unconditional love and support of a man in love, then Blind Ride might be right up your alley.

As this is the first book in the series, the author spends a good deal of time setting up the Roughstock world and the men and women who live in it. Because of this, we are much farther into the book than I expected to be when the incident occurs that takes Jason “Mini” Scott’s sight. Admittedly I was already on edge as I waited for that shoe to drop because I hadn’t anticipated the author’s world building to last as long as it did. But that’s not a complaint because it gave me that chance to get to know Mini and Andy “Bax” Baxter well enough that I was devastated for BOTH men when Mini was hurt. This foundation also allowed the author to stay on track post-accident when decisions were made about where Mini was going and his rehabilitation plans because the author didn’t have to introduce the relevant characters because we already knew them. It also serves to show how close-knit their group of friends are and why it’s no surprise that they rally behind Mini after the accident.

As for the relationship between Jason and Andy, there are a few hints and throw-away statements made pre-accident that suggest that at some point in the past and in the presence of a pretty good amount of alcohol, they spent the night together. While it’s clear from their inner musings that both men are still attracted to one another, neither acts upon it. Yet when Jason’s life begins to spin out of control, Bax is there as his beacon in the storm, and the need to affirm their lives are still worth living leads them to take solace in one another and reconnect on a physical level. What I’m about to say may sound like a complaint, but it really isn’t. There is a lot of sex in Blind Ride, far more than I would have expected considering how far into the book we are before the first encounter. I repeat, I am not complaining about how often Mini and Bax get intimate because these two are hot together. What I found interesting though, is that what began as a life affirming act became one heck of an avoidance tactic used by both men when they couldn’t or didn’t want to deal with the world. The intimacy Mini and Bax share is intense and it allows them to lose themselves in one another and escape the realities around them. And considering what they had to deal with, I can’t really blame them there. As I said before, the end of this installment came sooner than I was ready for so I was quite annoyed when I got to the last page and found out I wasn’t going to get to “see” Mini ride. I can only hope that the next book in the series is re-released soon so I can find out what happens next.

Texan to the bone and an unrepentant Daddy's Girl, BA spends her days with her basset hounds, getting tattooed, texting her sisters, and eating Mexican food. When she's not doing that, she's writing. She spends her days off watching rodeo, knitting and surfing Pinterest in the name of research. BA's personal saviors include her wife, Julia, her best friend, Sean, and coffee. Lots of good coffee.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Blind Ride (Roughstock #1) by BA Tortuga to read and review.